After a flamboyant success in the Champions League at the Parc des Princes against Manchester City (4-2), Paris Saint-Germain returned to Ligue 1 with the reception of the Stade de Reims this Saturday evening, as part of the 19th championship day. If the poster could have been quite anecdotal given the turnover made by Luis Enrique – in comparison to the meeting against the Cityzens on Wednesday – with the tenures of Lucas Beraldo, Lucas Hernandez, Désiré Doué or even Gonçalo Ramos, this duel against the troops by Luka Elsner was above all an opportunity to celebrate the great first of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the PSG jersey, starting from the start on the left flank of the starting eleven alongside Ousmane Dembélé and Gonçalo Ramos. Bradley Barcola therefore started on the bench.
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At a press conference on Friday, the Spanish coach left doubts about whether the golden winter recruit would start: “its characteristics are adaptable to our style of play. We look for the player’s innate qualities to improve them. Be in front of goal as often as possible, be in a shooting situation but also connect with a particular player and create synergies. I think what he will bring to the team is positive. Physically he is very good. We saw it without problem in training. He is ready“. Finally, as expected by certain media, the Georgian international started well this Saturday evening against Reims. In front of 49,000 Parisian supporters, the former Naples player was first presented a few minutes before kick-off.
Already decisive with PSG!
«Kvara, welcome to the madness of the Park», Was written on the small banner displayed by the Collectif Ultras Paris in the bays of the Auteuil bend during the very short presentation of the player before kick-off. Quickly on the leg, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had a few opportunities on his left side including this attempted incursion into the area well blocked by Ito (2nd). A few minutes later, he showed his speed but his cross was not enhanced by the missed control by Ramos (3rd). Despite a few hit balls, the Georgian especially made his mark in the first act, seeking to make as few missteps as possible: “Kvara? All the attackers we have can play in every position. This is his strength, he got to know his teammates, the stadium, his opponents. It was important to play this first match. It’s always complicated but I’m very satisfied“, explained Luis Enrique. And it was precisely upon returning from the locker room that Khvicha Kvaratskhelia only needed a few minutes to prove decisive and quickly shine.
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Indeed, on his first ball touched in the second act, the native of Tbilisi was the baton of the opening score for Paris. Taking the ball on his left side, the former Napoli player quickly moved into the middle, played a one-two, slipping the ball to Doué who immediately passed it back to him. Kvara then perfectly slipped the leather to Dembélé who concluded the beautiful collective sequence initiated by the new Parisian recruit (47th). On the exit of Ousmane Dembélé (60th), Kvaratskhelia moved into a central attacking midfielder role in support of Gonçalo Ramos with the entry of Bradley Barcola on the right and the repositioning of Désiré Doué on the left. When the Portuguese striker was replaced (73rd), the Georgian played the role of leading attacker in false nine: “It was a complicated match, Reims is a good team but we could have won because we had chances. You have to keep moving forward, work hard and the good results will come. I think we could have scored on several occasions and that’s why we didn’t win» declared the man of the evening. It is therefore a multi-cap use that he experienced for his great first. Enough to announce the color of his tailor-made role in the coming weeks.
-An idyllic first week
A few minutes after the final whistle, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia also stopped in the mixed zone in a room filled for the occasion with French, Italian and Georgian journalists. Enough to look back on his first days at Paris Saint-Germain “I had a very good feeling, very good atmosphere here. I’m happy to be here with these incredible fans, but I wanted to win. We missed several opportunities. These are things that happen in a match. We must continue to work hard. I think the good times will come, so we have to keep working. The atmosphere was very good, thank you to the supporters. I really felt that they helped us a lot. I can already see that the boys are very good players and I’m happy to play with them. I really enjoy being on the field with them. We have to work hard and that’s it. I can play anywhere on offense. It was very good to feel free“, he explained at length. A few meters away, on the floor below, Luis Enrique arrived at a press conference. And the Kvara subject obviously took a prominent place.
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The Spanish coach detailed the first of his new player who finished the match with 69 balls touched and 91% of successful passes: “Khvicha Kvaratskhelia played the first half in the first half and with only four practices with his teammates, it’s bound to be difficult. We don’t know each other well yet but I think he was good. When he has the ball, you can feel that he has something different. I hope this will be his first match of a long series at the club. He started the second half very well and made a very good pass for Ousmane Dembélé. I think there are a lot of positive things. He lacks rhythm because he hasn’t played for a while and doesn’t yet know his teammates. This is a new situation for him“, he concluded. In any case, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia did not disappoint in his first minutes in Paris and he will now be able to encourage his teammates on Wednesday against Stuttgart before (perhaps) experiencing the round of 16 of the Champions League on the pitch.
Pub. the 26/01/2025 00:32
– UPDATE 26/01/2025 01:10